Jenny Monroe talks to Tracy Chan

TRACY Chan is the chairperson of the Lisburn Chinese
Ladies' Group and also owns Bauhinia Palace Chinese restaurant in Moira.
She is married to Stanley and they have two children. Tracy arrived in
Northern Ireland 18 years ago from Hong Kong and studied business and
finance at the University of Ulster before returning to Hong Kong. She
came back to Northern Ireland when her husband got a job here. They set
up their take-away and restaurant business in 1997 and it has been very
successful. The couple's working hours and family priorities meant that
they didn't really have a social life and they found coming to terms
with a new language and foreign culture quite a challenge. In 2007 Tracy
became involved with the Chinese Ladies' Group which is funded by Awards
for All and aims to help integrate its members with the wider community
as well as preserve its own culture and traditions.

I wake up around 7am. The children get ready for
school and we have breakfast before they leave. Our restaurant doesn't
open until the afternoon so this gives us time to manage family life.
The chef arrives at the restaurant and prepares the fresh ingredients
before my husband and I get there. We usually work six evenings a week
and are closed on a Tuesday. This day is dedicated to the Chinese
Ladies' Group. We seek to strike a balance between the two worlds by
introducing Lisburn people to Chinese traditions, while at the same time
keeping those traditions alive among young Chinese people here.

The Chinese community in Lisburn is growing. Until
now, we in Lisburn looked to the Belfast Chinese community. But the idea
of this group is that Chinese people living in Lisburn can meet more
often. Our numbers are such now that we have formed an association
specifically for this area to give us a chance to form our own sense of
identity - but also to help the wider community understand our culture.

So successfully have many second-generation Chinese
young people assimilated that there is now a danger of their native
language and culture being forgotten. So many Chinese people are in the
restaurant business and work in the evening we decided an after schools
club would be useful, for instance, and we organised that through the
group. It means Chinese children, who mightn't otherwise have met one
another, can get to mix - the older ones can help the younger ones with
homework too. We also encourage the children to speak Chinese - most of
them would speak English given the choice because that's what they're
speaking everyday at school, but the association would like to ensure
they have a grasp of their native language too. As chairperson I keep
our monthly meetings in order and arrange different classes such as
cookery demonstrations, Mandarin English classes, yoga and stress management tor example. I am always
keen to get feedback from the members on what they would like.

I meet up with our funding body Awards for All' and other
organisations who support us including the South Eastern Education and
Library Board, and the South Eastern Trust. We have young and elderly
members and it is important to find out their needs and concerns and
ways to help them. Some people don't realise they are entitled to
translators at the hospital and dentist for example and the group try to
highlight these entitlements. Some others have difficulties
understanding the Education system and we will put them in touch with
someone who deals specifically with their needs.